Sir Simon Rattle conducts an evocative programme showcasing French music composed on the cusp of modernity, featuring masterful works by three pre-eminent French composers.

French repertoire is characterised by its unique sense of clarity and balance coupled with an innate sense of craftsmanship, as a conductor Rattle embodies these very same ideals. His approach to this repertoire matches that of the composers themselves, lavishing care and attention on every note.

Delage’s rarely heard Four Hindu Poems, is a set of sparse, jewel-like miniatures for small ensemble and soprano which forms the centrepiece of this programme. It is set alongside masterpieces by Ravel and Dutilleux, including Dutilleux’s exalted violin concerto L’arbre des songes (Tree of Dreams), performed by Leonidas Kavakos, and Ravel’s Daphnis and Chloe Suite No 2, which the composer described as a symphonie choreographique.

Change of artist

Soprano soloist Susan Gritton has withdrawn from the performance of Delage’s Four Hindu Poems at this concert for personal reasons. The LSO is extremely grateful to soprano Julia Bullock for agreeing to step in.